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Engineering

In our modern era, technology is advancing faster than ever before, and with major breakthroughs achieved due to multidisciplinary collaborations, the ability to bring a deep understanding of the ideas from different engineering branches is of great importance for a modern top-tier engineer. The six Engineering Fellows at Christ's together with research students and external academics cover the entire range of the subject at a high level. Chemical Engineering has its own page on this web site.

Engineering at Christ’s

The Engineering course (also called “The Engineering Tripos”) run by the Cambridge University Engineering Department (CUED) offers a unique opportunity to cover the “essential core” of the main branches of engineering at a fundamental level during the first two years (Part I), followed by specialization in the professional area of choice in the third and fourth years of study (Part II). The College, with its six Engineering Fellows whose collective expertise covers a broad scope of subjects, is very well placed to support these studies.

Whereas all the lectures, practicals and classes are organized by the Department, we are here to help students organise their work and understand all aspects of the material covered through a system of supervisions. During their first two years our students would typically have around three per week of one-to-one or two-to-one sessions (called “Supervisions”) with College Fellows, university lecturers or research workers. The specialized supervisions during the third and fourth years are organized by the Department with the University's best available scholars in each subject.

The College is conveniently situated in the heart of Cambridge and less than ten minutes walk from the Department; and our Directors of Studies are always there to assist with any kind of problems, to give advice and to help deal with any difficulties.

The courses

Cambridge currently offers two courses in Engineering, both involving a total of four years of study for the BA and MEng degrees:

"I'd advise any applicants to go into the course with an open mind about specialisms – often people change their minds after studying all of Engineering for the first two years!"

Hiral

How to Apply

We typically admit between eight and twelve engineering students per year who come from a wide variety of schools and backgrounds and form a friendly and supportive group. Details of the application process including the dates and deadlines are given on our how to apply page. If you will be applying from outside the UK, we recommend that you also read our dedicated section for international students. It's also helpful to look at the Engineering Department's Guide to Admissions.

Subject requirements

To apply for Engineering, you should take Mathematics, Physics and a third mathematical / science subject at A-level, IB Higher or equivalent. If you are an A-level candidate and your third maths/science subject is not Further Mathematics, you will be more competitive if you can offer Further Mathematics as an AS-level.

If your school does not offer Further Mathematics, you may be able to get support through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme. It can support you by offering advice about choosing Further Mathematics, revision events, university applications, enrichment materials and activities, and tuition, when it is not available through your school or college.

A number of our international candidates from countries where you study a wide range of subjects at school in the final two years find it helpful to take part in mathematics competitions as a way to focus on extending their mathematical knowledge and ability.

Pre-interview Admissions Assessment

Applicants for Engineering must sit a pre-interview admissions assessment called the Engineering Admissions Assessment (ENGAA). This will take place in your school, college or local testing centre on 30 October 2019. The same assessment is used regardless of which College you have applied to. The Engineering Admissions Assessment examines your academic abilities, knowledge-base and potential, and forms part of our holistic admissions process: there is no set score that we are looking for. When applying, it is important to be aware of the registration and assessment dates:

All Engineering applicants applying in 2019 must be registered to take the Engineering Assessment by 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2019. See how to be registered.Please note that open centres may set an earlier deadline for accepting entries, and it is your responsibility to check if this applies at your centre.

All Engineering applicants applying in 2019 sit the assessment on 30 October 2019.

Information about the assessment including example papers and subject content is available on the University Admissions website from March each year.

Interviews

If you are invited for interview in Cambridge, this will take place in very late November or early December. In admissions interviews with our fellows (one interview will be with the Director of Studies) we will ask you to tell us more about your desire to study Engineering and, probably, about your achievements to date given in your personal statement: we are also likely to discuss your interests, motivation and ability to study independently. During these interviews, you will have an opportunity to show us your academic potential, your approach to solving problems and your ability to generate ideas. What the interviews are not designed to do, however, is to test your current level of knowledge in each particular subject, although sometimes you may be asked to show us some particular skills.

Do not forget that the interviews are not just there for us to ask you questions. They provide you an excellent opportunity to ask us about the course, the College and the University. Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section.

Offers

Offers for Engineering are likely to be minimum A*A*A at A-level including A* in A-level Further Maths (or minimum grade A at AS level Further Maths), 42 points overall in the IB with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects, or equivalent in other qualifications. All conditional offers for Engineering will usually also include STEP, typically grade 1 in STEP Mathematics I. Preparation materials are available in the resources section below.

Deferred entry

For those who are considering a gap year, deferred entry applications for Engineering are encouraged by the College. A gap year can offer a valuable opportunity to travel and/or gain work experience in an industrial setting (via, for example, the Year in Industry Scheme), which can be a major advantage during the undergraduate course. See the industrial placements information on the Engineering Department website.

Free online support programme from Cambridge Mathematics Department in collaboration with NRICH, to help you develop advanced problem-solving skills and prepare for sitting STEP Mathematics examinations. This includes online modules for individual study each week and an online discussion forum.

The Underground Mathematics website, previously funded by the DfE and based at the University of Cambridge, offers free resources to support the teaching of A level mathematics, as well as selected past STEP questions with fully worked solutions and explanations.

Revised and extended verion of the book by Dr Stephen Siklos, free to dowload in pdf format. This book analyses recent STEP questions selected to address the syllabus for Papers I and II. Each question is followed by a comment and a full solution. The solutions point students to the methodology required to address advanced mathematical problems critically and independently.

Further information

If you are able to come to a College Open Day, we will be glad to tell you more about Christ's and studying Engineering here in person. If you are not able to come, please feel free to email any queries you have to the Christ's admissions team: admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk.

If you would like to visit the Engineering Department, we recommend that you come on the Cambridge Open Days, in July as this is the only time it is possible to go on a tour of the facilities. Booking opens in April each year and Christ's College will be open to visit on the same day (see our open days page).